prelude to a crusade
by nataliexkathryne
Summary: preseries. chrono's thoughts whilst in mary's tomb. oneshot


**FINDING**

_Thump!_

The dull sound of something falling near by caught the years of a solitary form sitting against a cold hard coffin, the it was made of stone, and marked only by the sign of Christ, hidden deep underground, laying undisturbed since it's creation, the only leaving being to ever spend time there, was a creature who never left. The boy lifted his head slightly, straining his ears, trying to find another sound to accompany the first, but he heard nothing. He removed his gaze from the gates to the crypt and instead stared at the stone wall in front of him. The sound was probably just some animal, nothing of consequence, it wasn't as though anything human would try to this grave, it had been years since this room had been sealed up, the lifeless body he was guarding had surely been forgotten by time.

_What is time but a gate way to age? Time does little more then keep life and death in balance; therefore time should not matter to me. Time is for those who have limited life, or rather, those who want to use their limited life to fullest, I have no such restriction, I lost my lust for life along ago, and my life disappeared along with my love, you took away my will to live._

The sinner chrono closed his eyes tightly, a picture of a young angelic face filling the dark recesses of his mind, Blonde hair cascading upon pale skin, a forced expression of peace upon the angels face.

_Mary, Mary Magdalene, the one whom god smiled upon most graciously, and who in turn smiled down on me. I remember that smile; I can see it in my minds eye as clearly as I can see my hands in front of me. A fake smile, hiding her pain, or perhaps revealing the cold, numbness that had taken over her soul. She breathed life into this sinner body and gave my heart a gift which could only be called humanity._

Chrono opened his eyes once more and looks down at himself. Sickened by the youthful disguise he wore, covering what evil which he knew was hidden within him.

_Humanity for a devil, It's a fraudulent idea, I am not human so how could I be possessed with human emotion, a devil's heart should not know love, that is how I and all of my kind have lived for thousands of years, we survive without that sort of weak emotion, we replace it with cold passion, an allusion of love, where attachment is not necessary, because the brutal hierarchy of pandemonium will never leave room for a attachment, every devil can only watch out for himself, there is no honour, no trust, we get by day by day believing in only our instinct of self-preservation. She changed that._

_Oh Mary, even after years of thinking only of you, I still don't understand a thing about you. What motivated you to give up your life so easily? Perhaps that is just how the human mind works; perhaps all humans are submissive to an extent of foolishness. Mary, I loved you, but I can't understand why. My devil mind is at war with my human heart, your gift to me. I can't comprehend your feelings, yet I feel them too. What a cursed gift to give._

The devil's train of thought was cut short but a dull light, followed by the low creaking of stone gates being forced open. _So, it wasn't just some animal._ He turned towards the gate, two children stood there, a boy and a girl, siblings if there colouring was anything to go by, both looking immensely confused and even a little scared.

"Who are you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as relaxed as possible. Not feeling any need to further scare the already frightened children, however, it was unnecessary. The girl quickly swallowed her fear and stepped closer to chrono.

"First, tell us who you are" her tone was strong but not commanding, and it seemed to calm her brother down slightly. Chrono looked between the two, seeing innocent within them. He suddenly felt very tainted, there was a heavenly quality about these two and he was ruining it by being in their presence.

_Corrupting the pure of heart... there was a time when that wouldn't have bothered me so much. _The devil could not bring himself to look at the children in the face. He instead shot his gaze back towards the cold wall of the tomb.

"My name is chrono" he said evenly "and I am what your people would call a devil"

_The knowledge of what I am should be enough to make them leave. _

"What do you mean by.. a devil?" asked the girl. Chrono was taken aback; he had certainly not expected that sort of question. _Does this girl honestly not understand?_

"Exactly what I said" he replied "one of those that are feared by humans"

However, he no longer knew how true those words were. These two children did not seem afraid of him in the slightest, intrigued but not scared. Why would they not fear me?

**A/N: so… any good? review review review.**


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